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RG Steel owner remains hopeful of restart
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Betters
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Charles Betters acknowledged he doesn’t have the experience to run a steel mill like the former RG facility. But he wanted the mill’s employees to know he’s doing all he can to find someone who can.
Betters, of Monaca, Pa., bought the RG Steel facility in bankruptcy court. He spent time outside the mill’s administrative offices Thursday afternoon telling a few hundred of the laid-off workers of the extra effort made to make sure there is still a chance the mill might reopen.
He referred to the work he and his attorneys did for weeks in federal bankruptcy court, trying to resolve an issue with ArcelorMittal over that company’s option to purchase the Warren mill’s boiler. If ArcelorMittal acquired the boiler, there would be no way for the mill to reopen, Betters said.
Arcelor- Mittal runs the coke plant next to the Warren mill. Betters said he believes the boiler issue is resolved, and the resolution will be formalized in a few weeks. Betters said he believes he and his two partners are “very close” to closing on the purchase.
Betters was approved by a bankruptcy judge last week to buy the mill for $16 million.
He introduced the partners to the workers and to public officials who attend-ed an earlier luncheon, and said they have a lot of “informational resources” that will enable them to link up with a group that could run the mill. The partners are Independence Excavating of Cleveland and Grouse Ridge Capital of Butler, Pa.
One worker yelled out to Betters, “Why don’t you run us? We’ll make you money.”
“You can do it,” another said.
The workers cheered the loudest when Betters told workers he plans to winterize the mill in the coming months, a move workers said indicates he’s serious about reopening the mill.
“I’m glad he’s winterizing it. It gives us a little time,” former RG worker Jeff Leskvac said.
Asked whether Betters and his partners were looking to sell the mill, Betters said it’s possible they would sell it entirely or stay on as partners in a resumed steel-making operation.
“I think he seems serious about finding us a buyer,” worker Al Billock said after Betters finished his half-hour conversation with workers.
Betters’ company has carried out numerous demolition projects in the last seven years with Independence Excavating, including the demolition of a tin mill in Aliquippa, Pa.
In a press conference with reporters and again in talking with workers, Betters said he and his partners agree they would prefer to restart the mill than tear it down, even if demolishing the mill was more profitable.
Betters said they would turn down the opportunity to make triple their investment through demolition if they were able to “bring the right players to the table” with the state’s help to organize a reopening, even if that meant only making double their investment.
“We could be, the day after we acquire it, tearing it down — but that’s not our intent,” Betters said.
“We’re going to need some luck, support from labor and from management,” Betters told the workers.
“I came from Aliquippa,” Betters said. “I saw the same thing [a closed steel mill] happen. I know it doesn’t feel good.”
Later he added: “Remember this day. I know what the jobs mean. I get it. If we’re lucky enough to get a restart, perform.”
“We appreciate what you’re doing for us. We won’t let you down,” one worker said.
Workers were having meetings Thursday with union officials to learn about their options for acquiring health insurance to replace the company benefits they lost Sept. 1.
“There’s a lot of opportunities [for alternative health insurance], but as you know they’re all expensive,” a female worker said. “Anybody who has a family cannot afford the insurance.”
Another worker said it would cost $1,600 per month for him and his wife to get health care using the federal Health Coverage Tax Credit. The program reimburses workers for 80 percent of the cost, according to the Ohio Department of Insurance website.